A/maturity in Art: On Instructing the Midlife Novice Painter

The purpose of my thesis is to examine issues relevant to part-time, adult students first embarking upon painting in midlife, to interpret their educational requirements in light of these issues and conclude with a constructive educational methodology to meet their particular needs. As an unaffiliated (private) artist/instructor I work with very small groups of adults (two to five at a time) in my own studio classroom. Each of the relevant factors — the students having reached midlife or later maturity, the part-time nature of their involvement in painting, and the fact of being first-timers — give rise to particular and significant challenges and questions, which I shall endeavour to examine in the pages to follow. The issues and obstacles, which inevitably arise, include: the fact of aging into midlife and beyond; the genius myth; the inner critic; and the trickle-down effect of poor instruction in the art colleges for the past twenty-plus years. How might we most constructively handle these intrinsically meaningful issues in an age of instrumentality? What curriculum content constitutes a ‘solid foundation’ in the hands-on practice of the visual arts, for these students? What is the role of aesthetic experience in fostering development in these painting students? Considering the limited scope of their painting practice, one might raise the question: Can art be taught to this student group? Or are the products of their practice necessarily ‘mediocre’? How do we regard ‘everyday’ or ‘ordinary’ art?